His Predecessor
by thenextgamer
Summary: A holder of the Moth Miraculous from the 19th century mysteriously finds herself in present day Paris, France. Hearing news of a moth-themed villain terrorizing the city using his akumas to give powers and manipulate innocent people into doing his bidding, she decides to set out and help the local heroes try to find this villain before he can slander her heroic title any further.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I am a dumb dumb American who only watched the french dub of Miraculous Ladybug, so please forgive me for anything historically inaccurate, incorrect, or just plain dumb.**

* * *

Two months ago in the middle of a street in Paris, France...

 _"Nooroo?"_

 _"Yes, Alice?"_

 _"I don't think we're in London anymore."_

 _"No Alice, we are definitely not."_

The girl deftly dodged out of the way of a carriage with a squeak, as the carriage made a loud honking noise that both frightened and nearly deafened her.

She hurried over to the sidewalk before she could get hit by another one of these strange self pulling carriages.

Her eyes widened at the sight of seeing the entire road filled with carriages carrying people without any horses or animals pulling them.

 _"Mother of God! Have I stumbled upon a magical world?"_ She asked, more to herself than her kwami as she covered her mouth in shock.

She took in her surroundings and tried to absorb it all as best as she could. The odd decor of the buildings, the completely alien-like fashion of the people who walked by, even the sight of the overbearingly large tower that loomed above her.

Strange lights flashing red and green above the roads, colorful signs and posters that decorate the walls and pillars. Never before has she seen such things in her entire life.

It was all so very fascinating.

" _Where am I?"  
_  
 _"Alice, perhaps you should ask one of the nearby locals for information."_ Her butterfly sized partner suggested, knocking her out of her stupor.

 _"Yes, that's as good a place to start as any."_ She nodded, before turning in the direction of another young girl about her age.

The girl in question seemed to be of Oriental descent, her black hair tied in pigtails and dressed in clothing unlike anything she had ever seen. The girl currently had her eyes locked onto a strange rectangular object she had in her hand as she walked.

Without any other ideas, Alice motioned for her kwami to hide in her bonnet before picking up her skirt and quickly moving to catch up with the girl. _"Excuse me! Madam! Please wait for but a moment!"  
_  
The girl blinked for a bit before turning her attention over to Alice, her expression being one of confusion. When Alice caught up to her, she gave a polite small before asking, _"Good afternoon ma'am, sorry to bother you today. But can you perhaps tell me where I am? I'm afraid I've found myself in this strange place without much of a clue as to how or why."  
_  
To her dismay, the girl only tilted her head cluelessly, seeming to have not understood a single word she just said.

Alice slapped herself in exasperation. Of course she wouldn't understand English.

"I'm sorry miss, I'm afraid I don't understand English." The dark haired girl apologized in her native language.

Ah, so they spoke french here! That narrows down the location at least. She wasn't aware the french had developed such advanced technology though. There was no news of this back in London, and surely words and rumors should have spread like fire over such things.

At the very least, she was relieved to know that she could still communicate with others, even if it was not in her country's language.

"Excusez-moi mademoiselle, I did not mean to trouble you. I am simply lost and in need of direction." She curtsied out of politeness, unsure if such customs are similar to her country's.

"Ah, of course! I would be happy to help out a tourist!"

"Merci, merci! Please, tell me. What city am I in right now?"

The girl seemed to give raise an eyebrow at the obvious question, before asking, "Did you mean to ask for the address or something?"

"Non non, I definitely mean the city, please."

To her confusion, the Eastern girl looked at her with incredulous eyes as if what she was asking should be obvious. She supposed that in any other circumstances, it might seem incredibly inane to ask such a question when you already reside in the country, but Alice should be pardoned this one time on account for the fact that she didn't come here willingly, but rather was transported here without her consent through mysterious means.

"We're in Paris, France of course. Where else would you think you are?"

"Oui oui, how silly of me." She gave a dainty laugh and played off her ignorance as clumsiness.

Paris, France? How in the world did she get here out of all places?

Her bonnet rustled a bit, before Nooroo whispered to her, _"I have a terribly bad feeling about all this. Horseless carriages? Flashing lights and colorful pictures everywhere we go? A tower that dominates the sky? Alice, ask her what year this is."_

" _What? Nooroo, why would I ask her such a silly question? I already know what year it is."_ She whispered, making it seem like she was muttering to herself in front of the french girl.

" _Please, just ask. Something has gone terribly wrong, I feel."_

Well, her partner has never given her false judgements before. She gave him the benefit of the doubt and cleared her throat before asking the girl, "By the way, do you happen to know the date today?"

"Oui, today is June 29, Thursday."

"And the year?"

"The year?" The girl repeated, "Do you not know what year it is?"

"Forgive me, I am very forgetful as of late. Just to be sure, the year is 1839, correct?"

The french girl furrowed her brows at Alice, giving her a sudden feeling of dread.

"It **is** 1839, yes?" Alice repeated, hoping the girl hadn't misheard her.

"It's 2017, ma'am."

2017.

200 hundred years difference.

"Perhaps I misheard you…" Alice forced herself to chuckle, trying to rationalize her absurd situation, "But did you say 2017?"

"Is this a joke? Am I being pranked right now?" The girl suddenly asked, looking around in suspicion, "Is there a hidden camera around here that's recording all this? Lost time traveler in Victorian Era clothing? Real impressive guys, you got me!" The girl laughed, before patting Alice on the shoulder and gave a reassuring smile, "Perhaps you'll have a better chance fooling the next stranger. I have to go now. Good luck madame time traveler!"

With that, the girl left for Alice to fend her own vices.

Her kwami popped out of her bonnet and watched his partner as she stood silent, trying to comprehend everything that was happening.

…

" _Nooroo, we're not in London anymore."_

" _No we are not, Alice. No we are not…"_

* * *

 _Today…_

" _Paris is once again under attack by yet another of_ _ **Le Papillon's**_ _(Hawkmoth) akumatized victims. This time, with powers of electricity, the self-proclaimed_ _ **Conduit**_ _wreaks havoc upon Paris by stealing and absorbing the electricity powering everyone's homes. We can only hope that_ _ **Ladybug**_ _and_ _ **Chat Noir**_ _(Cat Noir) will come save Paris once again, as they always do, and restore the power back to it's citizens._

" _Now on to the weather. For the next week-"_

The TV flickered off as it's watcher excitedly bounced off the couch and ran to the stairs that lead to her attic.

Upon entering the attic, Alice was greeted by the hundreds of butterflies that resided within, and she quickly moved across the room to reach her cabinets.

Nooroo popped out as Alice crouched down to grab a jewelry box hidden underneath one of the cabinets, " _Are you sure we're prepared for this Alice? We're still in new territory after all, and we have no idea who anyone in this city really is."_

"Nooroo, please. We're in the land of art and romance! We should learn to speak like the inhabitants here too!" Alice chastised in her french tongue, grabbing her box and carrying it to the center of the room.

"My apologies. But my point still stands. Should we not let the Ladybug and Chat Noir of this city take care of the problem for us? They seem more than capable of protecting Paris without our help. We should allow ourselves more time to get accustomed to this era first."

"Have you not heard the moving picture boxes or seen the newspapers while we were here? Someone taking the name of Le Papillon is abusing the power of his Miraculous by turning innocent civilians into mad villains! I will not allow this- this _impostor_ disgrace the legacy of The Butterfly like this!"

She opened the jewelry box to reveal a purple brooch laying inside.

"But we have no idea how our presence here will affect others! We're not from this era! We were never supposed to be here! There is a chance that we might be damaging reality itself somehow just for existing!"

She chuckled at her partner's paranoia, taking out a hand to pet his head and reassure him, "Nooroo, you should know by now that whenever something happens that concerns us, it is not by coincidence or accident. There is always a reason for everything, even if the reason is not clear to us."

The kwami sighed, before accepting his partner's words. "Then what do you have in mind?"

"Is it not obvious?" She smirked, "We're going to defeat this so called Papillon, save the citizens of this beautiful city, and restore honor back to our name!"

"And Ladybug and Chat Noir? What of them?"

"If they're anything like Lovebug and Panther back in Nottingham, then I know for a fact that they'll be allies that we can count on. I'm sure once I explain to them our situation, they'll be more than happy to allow us to help them find Le Papillon."

Nooroo closed his eyes in brief silence, before giving her a resolute nod. "Okay, I trust that you know what you're doing."

"Then let's not waste anymore time!"

Taking the brooch and attaching it onto her vest, she spread her arms out and yelled to the sky, "Nooroo! Transforme moi!"

The brooch began to glow as her kwami partner flew around her in circles, before getting absorbed inside the jewel. The butterflies in the attic flew towards her and covered her entire body as it glowed in pure white light.

After the glow resided, the butterflies scattered around her again, revealing that a completely new person had taken Alice's place.

She twirled on the spot, grabbing her violet hat and throwing it above her in an extravagant fashion. Catching her hat with a flick of her cane, she smoothly placed the hat back upon her head of smooth silver hair.

Her eyes gleamed in excitement behind her lavender masquerade mask, confidence rising as she switched to her new persona.

Raising a hand out, one of the butterflies in the room flew over and landed on the palm of her hand. She brought it closer to her, before giving it a gentle kiss.

A swirl of energy surrounded the pretty butterfly, completely changing the color of it's white wings to a more velvet blue tone.

Opening the attic window, she whispered softly, "Safe travels my precious akuma. Give strength to the one that needs it most."

Obeying her master's command, the akuma took to the skies as it instinctively traveled to where it was needed most.

Watching it go, **La Papillon** (Miss Butterfly) jumped out of the window and followed after it.

* * *

Nino Lahiffe had trouble containing his fear as he hid behind a mailbox.

Just a few meters away from him stood a menacing supervillain, cackling gleefully at the destruction he was causing to the city.

"Now let's see here… this billboard here could use a little more… ZAP!"

Nino squealed and cowered into a fetal position when he heard lightning shoot out from behind him, burning a nearby advertisement board to the ground.

Why was it that he always found himself in these situations? It was as if no matter where he went, a supervillain was bound to show up around the corner. Whether it was a classmate being possessed and turned into a rollerskating maniac that kills anyone by touching them, a robot police officer trying to arrest the mayor for firing him, an evil knight trying to usurp power from the mayor, or a giant rock monster, it was ALWAYS something in Paris.

As awesome as it was to live in such a world where heroes and villains could exist like a comic-book, he had to wonder if it was worth living in if everyday was a struggle just to survive the next attack.

"And what have we here?"

Nino screamed in terror when he saw Le Conduit appear right in front him, menacingly leering over him with arms raised and crackling with electricity..

"You should have run when you had the chance, poor boy." The villain chuckled evilly before he pointed his hands towards Nino's head.

Unable to bear the sight of his impending doom, Nino turned and fiercely closed his eyes as he tried to enjoy his last moments breathing.

But instead of a swift electric death like he thought was coming, he instead heard a metal thunk and a pained moan in front of him.

Opening his eyes, Nino's expression became more hopeful when he saw Chat Noir himself appear to take a defensive stance right in front of him.

"I would say sorry for raining on your parade, but I get the feeling that rain would actually be pretty helpful to you right about now." Chat Noir greeted with a smug grin, spinning around his staff.

"You! I knew you'd show up eventually, Chat Noir!" Le Conduit smiled evilly, recovering quickly from his injury.

"Hm, you seem pretty ex-static to see me!"

"Ugh, that has to be one of your less creative puns, Chat." A girl groaned from somewhere above them.

Right on top of the building behind Le Conduit, Ladybug kicked her legs as she nonchalantly sat near the edge.

"Would you prefer I give more effort to my jokes, my lady?"

"I would prefer if you don't open your mouth at all. But I guess that would be asking for too much." Ladybug shrugged with a playful frown, before jumping off of the building with a grin.

With Le Conduit sandwiched right between the two superheroes, there was no chance for him to escape.

But judging by the sadistic look in his face, this seemed to be exactly what he wanted.

Le Conduit slammed his hands against his chest and began to glow. Nino's widened his eyes, recognizing the same move that paralyzed so many people earlier, and screamed, "Look out! He's going to explode out a shockwave! It'll paralyze anyone that gets caught by the blast!"

Quickly reacting to the information, Ladybug flung out her yoyo and swung away to a safe distance, while Chat Noir grabbed Nino by the arm and pulled him as they ran.

"Nino! Run to a safe place and hide! We'll handle Sir Carpet Rug here!" Chat Noir commanded.

"No need to tell me twice!" Nino wholeheartedly agreed.

With that, Chat Noir let go of Nino and allowed him to run around the corner of the street to safety. Nodding to himself, Chat used his staff to extend himself up to a nearby building.

Meanwhile, Nino continued to run, spurring himself to go even faster after hearing the electric explosion behind him.

Eventually, his nerves finally caught up to him and he had to stop to catch a breather in an alleyway.

His hand over his heart, he planted his back against a wall and slid down onto his butt, breathing heavily from fatigue now that his adrenaline left him.

Okay. Everything was okay. It was all going to be fine. Ladybug and Chat Noir were here to save the day once again. They'd deal with the villain like they always do, and everything will go back to normal, like nothing ever happened.

Phew…

Ugh. What a tiresome day. Nino wished his phone was still charged so that he could call Adrien or Alya to tell them about what just happened. His phone was completely empty though thanks to that electro-maniac stealing all the electricity.

Nino decided to lay low and stay in the alleyway until everything blew over. He did not want to risk getting caught in the open like that again.

Pulling out a bubble bottle from his pocket, Nino started playing around with it to calm himself down.

Blowing on his bubble wand, he watched as the bubble floated into the sky without a care in the world.

Hm.

Nino remembered that time when everyone in his class told him how he was once an akumatized victim a few months earlier. **Le Bulleur** (The Bubbler), he called himself. It was strange how he was never able to remember any moment of it though. All he could recall was getting irrationally angry over a father berating his own child, before waking up in a daze.

He wondered what it was like, being Le Bulleur and having superpowers of his own. It must have been a thrilling time for him. Maybe not so thrilling for his victims though.

Blowing another bubble, he looked up at it in thought.

What would have happened if he was able to keep those powers without being mind controlled by Le Papillon? Used it more responsibly? Could he have been like Chat Noir? A cool charismatic superhero adored by many? How much help could he provide if he fought alongside his idol?

 _Pointless thoughts, I guess_ , he thought to himself. Nino was just a normal everyday teenager. There was no way he was cut out to be a superhero.

Unbeknownst to him, a small blue butterfly landed on his bubble bottle and disappeared with flash, covering his bottle in a bluish color.

Nino straighten forward in shock when a blue butterfly pattern glow surrounded his eyes and he saw the image of a girl in a mask.

"What? Who?"

 **"Bonjour Nino. My name is Papillon, but not the same Papillon you know that uses his power to terrorize Paris's citizens. I am in need of your assistance, should you choose to give it."**

"Le Papillon?! Am I going to be mind-controlled and turned into a supervillain again?!" Nino asked, panic rising in his tone.

 **"Please, calm down. I'm aware of what happened to you all those months ago, but I assure you that this time it will be different. I am nothing like the other Papillon that used you like before."**

For some odd reason, her voice soothed him into calming down. It was like Nino knew for a fact that her words were truthful, even though he had no reason to believe a single word she said.

"O-okay…" Nino stuttered, unsure how to proceed. "What do you want from me then?"

" **I wish to grant you powers you've previously had and turn you into my champion. In return, I will need your help in forcing out the corrupted akuma that's possessing Le Conduit's mind. But please know that this is completely up to you. It is your choice whether you accept my gift or not. I will understand if you are too frightened to take this large responsibility on your shoulders."**

"You want to turn me back into Le Bulleur? Will I have any free will if I accept?"

" **Of course. Unless you use your gift irresponsibly and hurt others, you will have complete control over your actions. But I have complete faith in you. After all, my akumas would never seek out anyone with ill-intentions."**

"W-w-will…" Nino paused, almost hesitant to ask this question. "Will I forget everything once my powers are taken away?"

" **Why would your powers be taken away? I said that I trust you, didn't I?"**

Nino went silent, contemplating her intriguing offer. This was the opportunity of a lifetime, after all.

To regain his powers as Le Bulleur, but this time without any of the evil mind control that came with it. But can he trust this so-called 'Different Papillon?' Is she truly another Papillon that isn't trying to use him in order to steal Ladybug's and Chat Noir's Miraculouses?

Something in the back of his mind told him that it was all true, that this girl can be trusted. But what about Nino himself? Can he be trusted with such responsibility? Can he trust himself to know that he wasn't being brainwashed or influenced right now?

Gripping his bubble bottle, he furrowed his eyebrows and said, "Swear on it."

 **"Swear?"**

"Promise me that you're telling the truth, and that I won't become evil if I accept. Promise that you're not manipulating my head right now into thinking otherwise."

He saw her give a sad frown, almost like she was disappointed in his attitude towards her. But nonetheless, she raised a hand over her heart and promised, **"I swear to you that I, the true Papillon, only wish to give you these powers so that we may help each other protect Paris from evil. You will not succumb to evil like before, and may my honor be tainted if you ever were."**

Hmph… that sounded as genuine as it could be. Okay then.

"Then I accept your gift, Papillon. Let me help save Paris alongside you!"

He saw her nod proudly before the connection between them cut.

Nino opened his mouth in astonishment as his entire body glowed in a bright blue light before transforming in front of very eyes.

* * *

"What's the matter you two? Having trouble?" Le Conduit cackled in glee, clearly enjoying his time toying Ladybug and Chat Noir.

No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't seem to get near the villain without the risk of getting paralyzed by his electric powers. Using their magic gear against them was somehow fruitless since they would always get bounced away by some magnetic force. Chat Noir got hit on the short end of the stick by accidentally hitting himself with his own metal staff, while Ladybug's yoyo couldn't get anywhere near him because of the yoyo's metal case reacting to his electric current.

And they certainly can't rely on using hand-to-hand combat, since a single electric spark from his body would easily render their entire bodies into spasming statues.

Yet the akuma was right there in plain sight! His rubber gloves were the only things he has on him! But it'll be pointless to grab it because if they touch it, they'll get paralyzed!

Ugh! This had to be one of the most frustrating villains they had to deal with ever!

After dodging another lightning bolt attack, Chat Noir quickly jumped behind cover where Ladybug was. Breathing heavily, he told her, "I don't think I can last much longer if this keeps up. Did you figure out a plan?"

"Still working on it!" Ladybug grunted, watching Le Conduit as he arrogantly danced in place.

"Neither of you can do anything to stop me, so what's the point? Come on guys, just give me your Miraculouses and I promise that I'll keep you well fed in my dungeon once I take over Paris!" He offered them as he leered with a smug grin.

Looks like she'll have to rely on her good luck for this.

"LUCKY CHARM!" She flung her yoyo into the air, letting it spin around and watched as it summoned…!

A trash grabber tool.

As it floated down into her hands, she could only ask herself in confusement, "What?! How am I supposed to use this?!"

"As much as I would love to keep our city streets clean, the villain stealing all of our electricity and shooting it at us seems the be a much bigger threat than pollution." Chat Noir pointed out in a cheeky manner.

Ladybug looked around the vicinity to see if she could somehow use this tool in combination with whatever's available against the Conduit, only to find herself getting frustrated that nothing was popping out for her to take notice!

"Ugh! I don't see anything that will help us!"

"Don't worry, we'll think of something. Maybe even without needing your lucky charm."

Hm...

"Chat, do you think your Cataclysm will work against him?" She asked her partner.

"It's a risky move. If I miss, I might get grabbed by him and be completely worthless. I'm also afraid what might happen if I use my power on him. I've never touched a person with it before." He explained, before asking, "Do you think using it will outweigh the risks?"

"Even I'm not sure. Everything we've tried so far has been pointless, and we only have limited time left before we both detransform."

"Okay, in that case, I'll need you to distract his attention while I sneak up on him from behind. Just say the word, and I'll charge at him, okay?"

Without any better idea, Ladybug nodded and sprang out of cover. "Go!"

"Ah, there you are! You've finally come out of hiding! HAHAHA- ZAP!" Le Conduit fired his lightning bolts at them as they leapt to the air.

They were able to dodge the projectiles and continued on with their plan.

"Hey Conduit! How do you expect to beat us both if you never manage to hit us, huh? Your aim is more terrible than my grandmother!" Ladybug taunted, running the opposite direction from Chat.

Le Conduit's eye twitches in irritation, before gleaming towards her, "If that is a challenge, then I'll be more than happy to prove you wrong! ZAP!"

Ladybug smiled as she successfully managed to grab all of his attention away from Chat Noir, as he was slowly getting into position behind Conduit.

That smile was promptly wiped away however, when Le Conduit suddenly started shooting out lightning bolts even faster than before, all aimed directly at her. It took every ounce of her natural grace and gymnastic skills to dodge all of them, each duck and curve sapping her stamina away bit by bit until she felt herself getting sore in areas she didn't even know could get sore.

Realizing she won't be able to keep up any longer, she yelled out, "Now Chat!"

"CATACLYSM!" Chat Noir yelled out as he rushed in behind Le Conduit, his right hand pulsing with dark energy.

Le Conduit reacted to him faster than they both expected however, and with a panicked expression, slammed both of his hands into his chest to charge up another shockwave.

A shockwave that neither of them will be fast enough to get out of this time.

"Chat, no!"

"Ladybug!"

The noise from the shock wave could be heard around for miles.

* * *

"I've done it… I've finally succeeded!"

Le Papillon grinned to himself. Then he chuckled quietly, before it evolved into a dark and sinister laugh.

"The day I've been waiting for! Their Miraculouses are finally mine! I will finally have absolute power!"

He activated his communication link with Le Conduit, congratulating him for his hard work. **"Excellent job, my boy. You've achieved our goals so easily compared to all the other failures I've worked with in the past. Quickly! Grab both of their Miraculouses, and you will be rewarded!"**

"As you command, Papillon." Le Conduit obeyed, moving forward to grab Ladybug's Miraculous first.

But once the dust settled down and his view was cleared, he took a step back in surprise when he saw a giant green bubble surrounding the area where Ladybug once was.

"What in the world?!"

Le Papillon furrowed his brows as he watched the scene with confusion. He could sense the presence of another akuma in the area…

But that should be impossible. He never sent out any other besides the one meant for Le Conduit.

But yet… there was another.

* * *

Ladybug hesitantly opened her eyes and peeked through her arms, surprised to find that she still had basic motor functions. What surprised her even more though, was the colorful boy in front of her that she thought she dealt with long ago. He had his bubble wand out in defensive stance, as a protective green bubble surrounded the both of them.

"B-Bulleur?" But wait… wasn't Le Bulleur actually… "Nino?!"

He turned around and gave a calm smile. "It's okay Ladybug. This time, I'm on your side."

* * *

Le Conduit began backing away as he watched the green bubble pop, revealing an oddly shaped and colorful boy holding a giant bubble wand in his hand.

"Papillon, I don't understand-" Le Conduit asked his master, "Isn't he one of yours? Why are you having him protect Ladybug? I thought you wanted to take her Miraculous!"

 **"This isn't my doing, boy. Someone else is interfering…"**

"Le Conduit!" Bulleur called out, "While I'm not the type of guy that crashes parties, consider your parade of villainy pooped on!"

…

"Pooped on. Poop- like pop. Pop like bubbles popping- Nevermind, it was a dumb joke anyway."

While he was raving on about whatever the heck he was talking about, Le Conduit took this opportunity to shoot another lightning bolt at his foe.

He raised his arms and aimed, but was dismayed to find that himself having no energy left to shoot out.

Merde, he used all of his energy into his shockwave attack! Without any energy, he can't use any of his attacks nor keep up an electrical current to surround his body! He has to wait for it to recharge, or go out to steal more!

Not wanting to stick around without defenses up any longer, Le Conduit turned heel and bolted out of there.

"Hey! You can't just turn your back on me!" Le Bulleur took offense to this cowardly behavior and began to give chase, "Come back here! I'm talking to you!"

He jumped up and activated his bubble jetpack to propel himself after the villain, spewing out a trail of little bubble bits everywhere.

With the both of them gone, Ladybug used this down time to check up on Chat Noir, who was currently frozen in place in the same charging position he was doing before.

"Chat, are you alright?" She asked, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Eugnnggeg." He moaned, his shoulder twitching occasionally and his mouth left lopsided.

Ladybug managed to catch Chat Noir when his body starting tilting to the side, laying him down on the floor. "I'm sorry, Chat. I forgot that Conduit could do that shockwave attack."

"Euunggenen." Chat Noir mumbled out something either sarcastic or reassuring towards her, as she can't tell whether his stiff smile was supposed to be the kind after just flirting with her, or the kind was meant to comfort her. Knowing him though, it was probably both.

"Is Monsieur Chat Noir alright, Madame Ladybug?"

Ladybug nearly jumped in shock at the unexpected voice behind, before she turned around to face the newcomer.

It was a strange costumed mask girl. She wore a brightly colored purple feather hat and a lavender colored masquerade mask to hide her identity. The clothing she wore though, it almost reminded her of someone else. But for the life of her, she just couldn't remember who at the moment.

"Apologies, I came in unannounced." The girl curtsied respectfully towards her, before explaining herself, "I, too, am also a holder of one of the seven Miraculouses. I wish I could reveal to you my name, but I am afraid that will raise too many questions that we will not have time for. Just know that it was I who brought back Le Bulleur from the boy known as Nino Lahiffe, and I assure you that the both of us are on your side."

"But- wait- I still don't understand. Who are you?" Ladybug was still so confused by all of this. Another Miraculous holder besides her and Chat Noir? One with the power to bring back her old villains to fight on her behalf? She was still trying to catch up with everything that was happening at such a short time frame.

"Trust me, I will explain everything soon." Holding her cane under her arm, she grabbed both of Ladybug's hands, "For now though, you must hurry. You're about to detransform soon, so I need you to use your power to undo all the damages caused by Le Conduit. Nino and I will handle him while both you and Chat Noir recover."

Ladybug roughly pulled her hands away from the stranger, eyes clearly full of doubt. "Hold on just a moment! You can't just spring all of this on me and expect me to be quiet about it! How could I even trust you? I never even met you before! You could be another one of Papillon's akumas trying to trick me!" It had happened once before, with Volpina and her illusion powers. Anything could happen when it comes to him and his akumatized villains. She knows better than to take anything at face value, especially with someone so vague and suspicious that appeared out of nowhere.

The girl sighed, before suddenly announcing, "Nooroo."

"Nor-what?"

"Tikki should know who he is. Once you detransform, ask your kwami about the name. Hopefully that will be enough to trust me for the time being." She explained, before urging her, "But for now though, please, you must use your Miraculous Ladybug power!"

Ladybug was about to demand how she knew the name of her kwami, but the girl interrupted her by shoving her aside to catch up with Le Bulleur and Le Conduit. "Excuse me, sorry! I have to help him!"

The dark-spotted superheroine reached out for the stranger with a frustrated, "Hey! Come back!" She was about to go after her too, if not for her earrings beeping to remind her of the limited time she has left before changing back to Marinette.

Looking back-and-forth between the stranger and to her paralyzed partner, she sighed to herself before deciding that she had no other choice than to follow the stranger's commands. She was too fatigued to be of any use to anyone at the moment, and she only had three minutes left before her detransformation. What else could she do?

Picking up her polka-dotted trash grabber, she threw it up in the air and yelled out the magic words, "MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"

* * *

"Just get lost already, you annoying pest!" Le Conduit screamed at his pursuer, using the energy that he stole from a nearby ATM machine to shoot another lightning bolt at him.

"Bubble shield!" Le Bulleur used his wand to summon another green bubble to protect himself from the electric attacks, and Conduit groaned as he saw it easily bounce off the bubble like it was nothing at all.

Why aren't any of his attacks working?! Bubbles shouldn't even be immune to electricity! That doesn't even make any sense at all!

"Bubble Bomb!" Conjuring a red bubble in his hand, he threw the bubble up and swung his wand at it like a baseball bat, aiming the bubble right towards the villain.

Seeing the attack coming, Le Conduit used up all of his remaining electric energy to cover his entire body, using his electrical currents to hopefully push the bubble projectile away from him.

But the moment the bubble got near his electrical currents however…

A small explosion set off right in front of his face, knocking the villain down on his back.

Seriously?! Oh okay, so _now_ the bubbles decide to react to his electric powers! That's nice, they just happen to CHOOSE HOW THEY REACT ON WHIM- THAT'S NOT HOW SCIENCE WORKS DAMMIT.

But okay, at least he knows now how Le Bulleur powers work. Green bubbles mean it's immune, red bubbles mean explosion. Good, that just means he should use his electric powers on red bubbles when they're still far away from him.

He scrambled to pick himself up, before moving to charge at Le Bulleur hoping to paralyze him with his touch if his ranged attacks don't work.

Le Bulleur, however, managed to get a crafty idea after watching him react to his bubbles for so long.

With a grin, Le Bulleur began to spin around in place with his wand out, conjuring up a large swarm of red bubbles and sending them all at the villain, "Bubble Brigade!"

Not expecting his foe to be capable of creating such large amounts of explosive power, he skidded to a halt and instinctively slammed both of his hands into his chest to perform another shockwave attack to protect himself.

Which was just what Le Bulleur was counting on.

At the very last moment, he snapped his fingers.

The collection red bubbles all shifted colors at once, turning into green bubbles as they collectively covered themselves around the villain before he could set off his attack again.

"BUBBLE TRAP ATTACK!"

All the bubbles that surrounded the villain merged together to form one giant bubble, trapping Le Conduit inside.

Le Conduit set off his shockwave attack again, but this time it was contained inside the impenetrable green bubble shield. The noise from the explosion was muffled inside the shield, being no louder than a dull thud.

After the shockwave finished and faded away, Le Conduit could only shake his head and groan before looking up to see the green cage that imprisoned him.

He screamed and yelled and slammed against the walls, to no avail. The bubble remained resolute against it all. There was no electricity inside of it, and he wouldn't be able to steal any more from the outside either.

Le Bulleur had done it. Nino Lahiffe had actually done it. He managed to beat one of Le Papillon's supervillains. All on his own, without any trouble. Just like a real superhero. Just like Ladybug and Chat Noir.

It was so surreal to him, he could hardly come to terms with it.

He looked at his suited hands with wonderment, amazed at his own skills from using such powers.

There was only one thing to say for a situation such as this.

"THAT WAS SO COOL!" He gushed.

"I must admit, I'm inclined to agree."

Le Bulleur turned around to find the source of his powers sauntering up to him from behind.

"La Papillon!" He greeted excitedly, waving his hands around like a child in a candy store. "Did you see me out there?! I ran and flew and controlled all those bubbles and threw them around and I ended up defeating the bad guy all by myself! It was wicked awesome!"

"Yes yes, I saw it all. I had been watching through your eyes with my akuma after all." She tapped the side of her head, "You were very impressive. I thought I might need to intervene in order to assist you, but I clearly underestimated your natural control over your gifts. Unsurprising, considering you've wielded these powers before."

Nino bashfully laughed as he scratched the back of his head, "Ahah- merci Madame Papillon. I'm actually surprised at myself to be honest. Even though I had these bubble powers before, I never actually remembered anything about using it. After Ladybug and Chat Noir saved me, I forgotten everything about being Le Bulleur. But transforming into him again, it was like reawakening myself from within. Like I was naturally born to be Le Bulleur my whole life!"

La Papillon covered her mouth and giggled daintily, "You're not alone, Nino. I've had champions back where I come from that have told me about having the exact same feeling as you've just described."

"Really? That's interesting…" Nino hummed to himself in thought.

"Speaking of champions…" La Papillon switched her attention to the electric-themed akumatized victim trapped in his bubble cage.

Le Conduit stared back at her with an astounded expression, as if her very existence should have been impossible.

Perhaps it was. But no matter. That was a mystery to be solved later.

"Nino, I need you to expose his head to me. I have to get connected into his akuma."

"No problem!" Nino waved his wand towards the bubble, and shouted a simple command, "Shrink!"

The green bubble cage shrunk until the villain's head was exposed for La Papillon to do whatever she needed to do.

He growled at the woman in front of him, "Don't you dare touch me, imposter! Once I get out of here, I'm going to fry the both of you until you're well-cooked and packaged in a delivery box!"

Ignoring his threats, La Papillon set her cane aside and pressed both of her hands against the side of his head.

The glow of a purple butterfly outlined his eyes, as a blue butterfly outlined hers.

Through his akuma, she was able to set up a connection with the true villain behind all of this. The one who called himself Papillon.

* * *

The masked man looked shocked to see her, not expecting her to connect their minds together. He didn't even know something like this was possible. It was… intriguing.

" **Le Papillon, I presume."** She spoke first.

"I see my reputation precedes me. To what do I owe the pleasure of this surprise meeting?" While his words sound welcoming and almost friendly, the tone behind it felt like anything but.

" **You are the holder of the Butterfly Miraculous. A tool meant to be used to grant supernatural abilities to those too weak to protect themselves, raising them to be champions and defenders for all that is good. Yet here you stand, using such a blessing as means to terrorize innocents by corrupting weak-willed and misguided people into doing acts of evil instead."**

"My my, should I be impressed by your knowledge of the obvious?" He chuckled dryly.

" **You are a disgrace to all of the previous holders of the Butterfly Miraculous before you. I don't know who you are, nor where you are. I don't even care for your reasonings of why you would choose to abuse such powers. All I know, is that your actions will have consequences. I will find you. I will relinquish that Miraculous from your hands. I will punish you for all that you've done."**

"Bold words from a stranger. Do you expect me to quiver in my boots after hearing your dramatic speech? I don't even know who you are, you're nothing but an inconvenience to me."

" **Arrogance will be your downfall, old man. Perhaps if I introduce myself, you'll start taking me seriously then?'**

Le Papillon silently glared at her.

" **I am La Papillon. Your predecessor."**

The masked villain tightened his grip on his cane, hiding his surprise well.

" **As a hero who came before you, I will stop at nothing until I defeat you and restore honor to my name."**

The connection was abruptly cut, leaving Le Papillon to his own vices.

Another Papillon? A… predecessor? Impossible. There was only one Butterfly Miraculous in existence, and it was in his hands.

There couldn't be another who held and wielded the same powers as him.

Could there?

* * *

"Precious akuma, I free you from evil! Reveal yourself, and follow your own destiny!" La Papillon chanted into the boy's head.

The purple butterfly outline around his eyes vanished, before a small black butterfly flew out of his head and fluttered gently into her hands.

The moment she kissed it, the boy had promptly passed out as the akuma that once controlled him changed its colors from black to velvet blue, before changing again to pure white.

Setting the now uncorrupted butterfly free, she whispered, "You've done enough, my little friend. Rest peacefully."

Nino pointed his wand towards the green bubble and lowered it down before dissipating it and releasing the young boy inside.

Like waking up from a bad dream, the boy stirred awake as he opened his eyes. He pulled himself up and looked around in a daze, "W-where am I? What just happened?'

He looked up to find a young masked girl reaching out to him with a helping hand. "Careful now. You're still disoriented from all that excitement. Are you injured?'

Eyes widening at the sight, he accepted the hand and blurted out, "Holy mother of god, you are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my entire life."

Surprised at the outburst, La Papillon covered her mouth as she laughed, "H-how forward of you! I've never met a man that spoke so directly towards a woman. And only after seconds of meeting me too!"

"I- uh- um-" He began to stutter madly and glow red, "I-I-I have no idea why I said that out loud, I am so sorry for that madame! I don't know what possessed me to say such a thing!"

"It is fine," she waved it away, "I am flattered nonetheless."

"Haha- yeah- um- uh, I-I'm just gonna… go now." He mumbled, before sprinting off in a random direction to avoid any awkward introductions.

She waved goodbye to the boy, wondering to herself if she'll ever have to seek him out again in order to ask for his help in future crises.

"Uh, Madame Papillon?" Nino's voice caught her attention.

She turned around to face the young man, giving a polite smile, "Yes, Le Bulleur?"

"Now don't get me wrong when I say this, I am super super stoked about having the power to control bubbles and everything… but… ummm…" He directed her attention over to his entire body and appearance, "HOW DO I TURN BACK TO HUMAN?! I DON'T WANT TO KEEP LOOKING LIKE SOME COSTUMED MANIAC FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!"

She raised an eyebrow at his panicked tone, before briefly clappingher hands.

With a blue glow, Le Bulleur's body changed back to the appearance of regular old teenaged Nino again.

Nino looked at his hands and flexed his fingers around a bit, before sighing in relief. "Oh thank goodness, I was worried for a moment there."

"It's not that difficult to switch your powers on and off. All you have to do is hold the object your akuma resides in and ask it for assistance. It'll easily follow your command." She pointed out to him.

"The object that my akuma resides in?" Nino repeated to himself, pulling out the familiar bubble bottle out from his pocket. "Woah. Does this mean my bubble toy is like a Miraculous now?"

"Not quite, but If you wish to view it as such, I definitely won't stop you from thinking so."

"Coooooool." He stared at the bottle in astonishment.

La Papillon set a hand on top of his shoulders, "Nino, if you ever come across Ladybug and Chat Noire again, tell them that I will seek them out in the future and that I promise to explain everything to them. For now though, I must take my leave. I can feel myself about to detransformize any minute now."

"Ha! You're just like them, aren't you? You save Paris, and then go to vanish away in order to hide your identity. You really are a heroic Papillon." Nino grinned at her, before giving a determined salute. "Okay, you can count on me to send the message. I am your champion now, after all!"

"Merci, my friend. A thousand blessings upon you." She nodded gratefully and ran off to the nearest building, climbing to the top and disappearing from view.

"Wow." He whispered to himself, everything that happened today finally catching up to him. "I'm a superhero now."

…

"I'M A SUPERHERO NOW! THIS IS THE COOLEST DAY I EVER HAD, EVER!" He shouted to the skies.

He pulled out his phone and was about to go to call one of his friends to tell them the news, only to remember that the battery was completely empty. "Oh right, Le Conduit." He sighed, before looking around the area.

…

"I've never been in this part of Paris before. I think I'm lost."

"Damn."


	2. Chapter 2

_Two months ago…_

The door slammed open, the vibrations causing dust to sprinkle off the disheveled furniture inside the room.

A middle aged woman flipped on the switch next to her. The ceiling fan started with a groan, and the lights gave a brief flicker before barely illuminating the room.

As she entered, Alice stepped in after her with an inquisitive expression. She curiously studied the twirling wood planks that spun above her, as well as wondered how the old woman was able to set the lights on without needing to use matches or candles.

"Strange house. Very strange indeed." Alice commented to herself.

"Yeah yeah, criticize it all you want but this is the best you're gonna get." The old woman grumbled bitterly.

"So… What facilities are included? Does it come with a bedroom and closet? A shower room?" Alice asked.

"You sleep on the couch." The woman said rather bluntly, pointing towards the sofa in the room. "You got a bathroom and toilet down that way, and a kitchen in the corner."

Alice looked at where she pointed, and with childlike wonder, started walking towards a strange white futuristic box on the counter. "What is this object for?"

The lady raised an eyebrow, explaining its obvious function. "That's a microwave. You heat food with it."

"Heat food? But how do you do so without using fire or wood? I don't see any slot or compartment where you can ignite that in here…" She touched the corners of the object delicately, studying the numbers on the front.

"It uses electricity. It doesn't use fire."

"El-eck-tree-city. Fascinating…" Alice whispered in awe. "And this clock with the glowing numbers? That's a timer, correct?"

The old lady shifted her eyes back and forth, wondering if this was some sort of practical joke. With an awkward shrug, she simply said, "Yeah."

Before Alice could gush over the technology, another object caught her eye and she began to sprint towards the bathroom. She sat on her knees and pointed at the toilet, "This chamber pot has a hole in below it and is filled with water. What purpose does this serve?"

The lady blinked, before crudely explaining, "You pee in it- or poop, whatever- then you press the lever on the side and the crap goes down the drain."

"A functioning sewage pipe that connects directly to the chamber pot?! That's genius!" With excitement, she pressed on the lever to see what it would do, and awed at the sight of the water rushing down the hole only for it to automatically refill.

"So, miss… Um… You touched in the head or something?"

"Hm?" Alice paused in her examination to raise an eyebrow, "Odd choice of words. My head feels fine, as far as I'm aware."

"Hm. Yeah. Alright." The middle aged woman looked at her strangely before shrugging it off with a tired, unconcerned look.

"Is there anything else that's included?" Alice bounced back up and quickly walked up to the woman with an excited and almost expectant look.

"We got a TV?" The woman said unsurely, pointing at the television in the main room.

It was an old dusty one that looked like it was made in the 90s. Nothing too new or expensive, since the old woman never bothered with such modern fangled garbage. But judging from the way the younger girl reacted, it might as well have been the newest discovery of the century.

"I've seen these things before while I was wandering around Paris! A shop that sold nothing but boxes with screens that could show moving pictures inside! It fascinated me so much that I spent at least hours attached to the window just to see what else would appear on the boxes!" Alice practically squealed. "You must show me how these work!"

Almost as if getting used to the girl's antics, the old woman didn't bat an eye when she picked up the remote from the table in front of the sofa. "You use this. It's a remote. It controls the TV."

Before she could even comprehend it, the remote disappeared from her grip and somehow reappeared in the girl's hand instead. The woman briefly looked at her hand in confusion before shaking her head and ignoring it.

Pressing the big red button on the corner of the remote that was labeled "On/Off," the TV switched on to show a broadcast of a popular detective-drama series.

"Oh my… Such a handsome young man." Alice blushed, tracing her finger over the face of famous actor Benedict Cumberbatch.

" _We've got a serial killer on our hands. Love those, there's always something to look forward to._ "

Alice gasped, looking back at the older woman with a pleasantly surprised expression, "And he speaks English!"

"Ahuh..." The woman responded with disinterest, before telling her, "You only get three channels. The local news, sports, and the BBC channel. Cable costs a fortune, so I refuse to buy more than what I need. You want more channels? Pay for the damn thing yourself."

Alice turned off the TV and faced the older woman with a beaming smile, "All of this is so spectacular! It's almost hard to believe I get to live here while working for you as a waitress! I imagine that I wouldn't even be given such comforts working as a waitress back in London."

"Eh, probably not. I'm more of a special case, so to speak."

"In that case, I thank you for your abundant generosity my friend!" Alice did a quick curtsy, "I will do whatever I can to repay this debt to the best of my abilities, so please don't hesitate to ask me for any favors!"

"Yeah yeah, just don't be late for your job and don't slack off. You start tomorrow." She waved away the easily excited girl, before moving to leave. "Get yourself comfy here or something. I gotta get back to my restaurant."

With her gone, Alice turned back to admire her new home for the time being.

" _This is absolutely wonderful, don't you agree Nooroo?"_ She asked the kwami hiding in her bonnet, speaking in her native language.

Nooroo popped out in front of her and gave a cringed expression. _"Honestly, I feel like we've just gotten the short end of the stick here. I think she allowed us to live in one of the more… undesirable locations. There is dust and cobwebs in every corner of the room, everything is unkempt as if we were the first ones to set foot here in decades!"_

" _Oh hush, you're always so pessimistic."_ She chastised, _"How would you know anyway? Perhaps this is just how houses are like in the future."_

Nooroo gave her a deadpanned expression, _"I sincerely doubt that."_

Alice scoffed, before pointing at the TV, " _Oh for heaven's sake, who cares about all the dust and cobwebs when we have a magical box that shows moving pictures and a chamberpot connected to the sewers itself? As far as I'm concerned, we're the luckiest beings alive to experience such technology first hand!"_

Shaking his head in defeat, he sighed, _"As you say, Miss Bellarose. So long as you're happy."_

With a satisfied nod, she smiled, _"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make like a young girl in Royal banquet, and excitedly faun over the handsome man in the picture box!"_

Doing just that, she turned on the TV with the remote and drooled over the chiseled features of the well dressed man on the screen.

Nooroo hovered nearby, unamused at the scene. He sighed again, wondering what else life will throw at them next.

Hopefully, nothing too stressful.

* * *

Present day...

"I demand to know who that was, Nooroo! Tell me the identity of that woman now!"

The purple kwami shook in fear, as he stuttered, "Master, I promise you that I don't know! It's impossible for another Butterfly Miraculous to exist! The previous holder of the Butterfly Miraculous had retired long before you've acquired it, and he wasn't even a female!"

"Then how do you explain the girl and her ability to manipulate _my_ akumas, claiming to be _my_ predecessor?!"

"I don't know, Master! T-T-The last female holder of the Butterfly Miraculous that I can remember was a young girl from England that lived during the 19th century! And she has long since passed away…" Nooroo remarked the last part sadly, remembering fond memories of the girl back when they were still partners. Shaking his head, he continued, "So it's physically impossible for her to be your predecessor!"

The man growled in frustration before waving his kwami away, "You're worthless. Eat your croissant and regain your stamina. I need time for myself to think."

"Yes Master…" Nooroo sighed dejectedly before floating over to his meal, and reluctantly began to eat his croissants.

Le Papillon closed his eyes in deep thought, a frown etched on his face like a permanent tattoo.

This was certainly an anomaly. A woman with powers of the Butterfly Miraculous, using her akumas to create champions that fight on her behalf. Her powers were exactly like his own. Yet there was no explanation for this at all. It truly was impossible for a situation like this to ever exist, but he found himself in these specific circumstance regardless.

Who was that girl? How does she have access to powers that should be exclusive for him and for him only? Why falsely claim to be his predecessor when there was no obvious benefit for it?

Was this the result of some sort of illusion magic?

No… No, when Le Bulleur appeared in the fight, he could clearly feel the presence of another akuma. Yet it was an akuma that he couldn't control or link minds with. Like some sort of rogue akuma with mental barriers to keep his interactions out.

A duplication, perhaps?

It might be possible. He remembered quite well of the time when he granted a servant to be the exact copy of Chat Noir, appearance, powers, and all. Another servant he had raised once had powers that mirrored Ladybug, with her magical yoyo and the ability to conjure items out of thin air. While both were just imitations of the real deal, their powers functioned the exact same. If it wasn't for the fact that he needed their actual physical Miraculouses in his hands, he would have used his own replicas to gain ultimate powers long ago.

Was it possible that this La Papillon was just a cheap copy that merely mimics his own powers?

In that case, how did she get such powers, and from where if not from himself?

This was a mystery that he would soon solve. When the time was right, he would send out another akuma to strike again and lure her out, along with Ladybug and Chat Noir. Then, once he defeats them, he will rip their Miraculouses right out of their hands and see for himself if she was who she claimed to be.

He will not let her be an interference to his plans. Ultimate power will be his soon enough.

* * *

" _Another day saved by the mysterious Miss Butterfly!"_ Alice cheered in English, pumping her fist in the air.

"I thought you said we should primarily speak French while we live here." Her kwami raised an eyebrow at her.

Laying her hand down, she embarrassingly apologized, "Sorry. Old habits."

She was back in her small room, sitting in her sofa as she patiently waited for the microwave to finish her pizza. Nooroo sat on the table in front her, sipping a cup of black tea in order to recuperate his energy.

"Today was quite exciting wasn't it? It was the first time we've transformed since the two months we've arrived here." She began the conversation, leaning on her palm as her other hand moved to pet her kwami with a finger.

"Terrifying is more like it. I still think it was risky to expose ourselves like that." He frowned, head leaning towards her as he enjoyed his partner's touch.

"But it ended on a rather high note with no complications. We helped the heroes to save Paris, like we always did in London." She rebutted.

"And now everyone in this city, and more importantly the other Papillon, knows of our existence." He argued back.

"It was bound to happen eventually, if not now then soon. I would never allow myself to sit in one place forever out of fear of the repercussions."

"Heh," Nooroo started to tease, "I remember a certain little lady who once refused to go outside, preferring to stay in her room and read books till the end of time, much to the chagrin of her parents."

"That was the old me, Nooroo. I've grown up from such single-minded behavior." She smiled at the reminder.

"Yes yes, you've grown up to be a fine young girl." He chuckled, taking another sip of his tea before donning a serious expression. "But back at the matter of hand though. We must discuss Le Papillon."

"Right." Alice furrowed her brows, sitting up straight in her seat, "It's true then. I've had some doubts about him owning the Butterfly Miraculous, but after seeing him face to face through his own akuma, there's no doubt now. He really is my successor. La Papillon's future." She sneered in disgust, "Truly a despicable thought."

"Him owning the Butterfly Miraculous means that, without question, he has a kwami with him that's forced to serve his commands."

She widened her eyes in realization, "You mean…?"

"There is another Nooroo that exists out there. A Nooroo from this time era."

"Is that even possible? For two Nooroo's to exist at one time?"

"Considering the fact that we were both shoved out of our original time era and placed in the future where technology like moving picture boxes and heating boxes exist, it isn't beyond the realm of possibility. Do not forget that us kwamis are immortal beings."

"And right now, the Nooroo from the future is currently aiding a madman abusing the Butterfly Miraculous for his own selfish gain." She continued with a pitying frown.

"That is the most likely scenario, yes. The thought doesn't comfort me, but it's something I must acknowledge." He sighed, sipping on his tea.

"Then that must be the reason why we were sent here! To come to your aid and help return the Butterfly Miraculous into the right hands!" Alice exclaimed.

"I don't think it's that simple." Nooroo shook his head, "Something tells me that we might be here for much bigger reasons than we can comprehend at the moment."

At that second, the heater box beeped to signal that the pizza was finished.

Alice stood up to grab a plate and returned with the meal in her hands.

"Whoever invented such a machine must have been a brilliant man." She commented, taking in the aroma of the pizza, "You no longer need a bakery oven to prepare meals, just shove it in a mini-box for ten minutes and you're ready to go! Even a simple child could do such a task! So convenient."

"It's both amazing and frightening how fast you humans have advanced within a few hundred years. You all adapt much faster with every century that passes. Makes me wonder what you'll accomplish in the next decade or so."

"We're truly unpredictable, aren't we?" She agreed, blowing on the pizza before taking her first bite.

"So what do you suppose we should do for the time being? We have no idea where Le Papillon is, and no plans on how we'll be able to find him." Nooroo resumed their conversation.

Swallowing in delight from the delicious pie, she said, "The first step is to introduce ourselves properly to Ladybug and Chat Noir! Surely, they've seen enough in their lives to believe in the idea of time travel. And if not, we prove our identities by having their kwamis confirm us. If they really are the successors of Lovebug and Panther, then that means Tikki and Plagg are with them as well. Even if it has been a… **long** time since they've last seen us, they have to at least recognize me and especially you!"

Nooroo hummed, "You have a good point. My mere existence to them should be a cold hard fact that we are telling the truth. But what then? What actions should we take after we all join together?"

"That…" She raised an unsure finger, "is something I have not thought ahead of yet. Baby steps, Nooroo. Baby steps."

"As you say then, Alice. We shall introduce ourselves and then plan ahead from there." He shrugged before finishing the last sip of his cup of tea. "Mmm. This tea tastes wonderful. So easy to make too! You just buy a box full of packets that contain the leaves already prepared, then insert in hot water!"

"It makes you wonder how we were able to live in a life where such conveniency hasn't existed yet! I don't think I could ever go back to buying and preparing leaves myself anymore."

"The future truly is wonderful."

They both finished dinner with high spirits.

* * *

"I know Nooroo, yes."

"You do?!"

Marinette's eyes bugged out of her head before she leaned in and continued her questioning. "Then that means you know who that girl was then?"

She was in her room, looking up news about the return of Le Bulleur as well as the appearance of a new mysterious masked figure that was seen running towards the location where Ladybug and Chat Noir fought Le Conduit. Tikki sat just above the edge of her keyboard, looking up at her partner with a confounded expression.

"Unfortunately, no. Like how I know Chat Noir's kwami, but not Chat Noir's real identify himself, I have absolutely no idea who this new girl is." Tikki briefly smiled from a nostalgic memory, "There was once a time when all the Miraculouses holders would meet up in a group and speak freely to one another like family… But those times have long passed."

"So Nooroo is her kwami then?" Marinette asked.

"Yes, which shouldn't be possible…" Tikki furrowed her brows.

"What? What does that mean?"

"Nooroo is the kwami of the Butterfly Miraculous, the one that allows their wielder to grant powers to anyone they choose and turn them into the wielder's champions." She explained.

"Wait… You mean like…?"

"Le Papillon, yes. The contradiction here though, is that there is only one of each of the seven Miraculouses. Le Papillon currently holds the Butterfly Miraculous. The only one of its existence. The one that Nooroo is part of."

"Which means the girl knowing about Nooroo is-"

"Extremely unlikely, unless Nooroo himself went out of his way to reveal himself to the girl." She nodded, "Now comes the confusing part. The masked girl we met today actually _has_ the Butterfly Miraculous."

"But that's impossible since Le Papillon has the Butterfly Miraculous!"

"Exactly. This very contradiction is something I cannot seem to wrap my head around." The kwami rubbed the sides of her head before levitating to the air, "And I'm certain it's not a fake either. I could feel it with my senses, that girl definitely holds the real Butterfly Miraculous along with Nooroo in it. Not only that, but she mentioned me by name, as if she already knew me..."

"And we saw her right after Nino showed up as Le Bulleur, and she explained that she was one who brought him back."

"Proving that it actually is the real deal. Which is impossible."

"Maybe this masked girl is actually Le Papillon?" Marionette offered in uncertainty.

Her kwami shook her head at the thought, "We already know that Le Papillon is an adult man. Even if she was Le Papillon, why would she reveal herself to you out in the open, and why would she have Nino protect you instead of allowing Le Conduit to paralyze you and take your Miraculous? It would be counter-intuitive to her goals of collecting both your's and Chat Noir's Miraculouses'."

"She could be trying earn our trust in order to lull us into a false sense of security?"

"Even though he had a villain that almost beaten you and nearly paralyzed you had it not been for Le Bulleur coming in at the last second? Something tells me he would have never wasted such a chance so that he could go forth with an elaborate and complicated plan without certainty."

"That's a good point…" Marinette shrugged, "So if she's not Le Papillon, who is she? And how does she hold the Butterfly Miraculous if Le Papillon has the only one in existence?"

"The unanswered questions. Both of which, I have no idea."

Marinette sighed, slumping back in her chair, "So even after all of that, we still don't know who she is?"

"We at least learned two facts about her that we didn't before. One, she holds the Butterfly Miraculous despite the impossibility. Two, she exists."

The young girl blanched at her kwami, "T-That still doesn't tell us anything at all!"

Tikki chuckled awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her head, "Sorry that I'm not much help this time."

"It's fine Tikki…" Marinette sighed again.

Two facts, huh? She exists, and she's a holder of the Butterfly Miraculous. Hm…

"Tikki, I've been meaning to ask this… You said that Nooroo is the kwami for the Butterfly Miraculous, right? If Le Papillon has the Butterfly Miraculous, how come Nooroo is helping him and allowing him to use the Miraculous for evil? Is Nooroo like an evil kwami or something?"

"Please don't be mistaken, Marinette." The kwami shook her head, before explaining, "Despite everything Le Papillon did, Nooroo is just as much a victim in this as the rest of us. Nooroo is one of the most kind-hearted individuals I've ever known, and he grants hope to those in times when hope couldn't possibly exist. He has done many great things in his life, and I couldn't ask for a more loyal brother."

"But then why is he helping Le Papillon?"

"We kwamis are made to follow the will of our Miraculous holders unconditionally. Whether we like it or not, we can't do anything on our own, so we need to rely on our holders. Even if that means following someone with less than noble intentions…"

"That's terrible! So that means you basically have no choice in the matter?!" Marinette asked with shock.

"Generally, no. But it usually does not matter since we've always ended up being with amazing people who use their powers for good! It's not like we have a track record for how many people decide to misuse the Miraculouses for their own gain."

"Has this ever happened before then?"

"Er… once. A long long time ago. Long before you or your parents were even born." She shook her head at the unpleasant memory, "But that doesn't matter, I don't think. We've moved on and solved that problem before it could get any worse."

"I see…"

"Anyway, believe me when I say that Nooroo wouldn't condone such actions, and would actively refuse to help if he had the power to do so."

"Okay." Marinette hummed to herself, "So I guess that removes the possibility of Nooroo escaping and giving his Miraculous to someone else..."

"Unfortunately…"

So where does that leave her now? What else was she missing from the puzzle? Everything that has happened so far has still left her confused.

Could this new girl be trusted? Does she have some sort of ulterior motive in play? Does her friend Nino play a part in it? Can she trust Nino anymore, now that he turned back into Le Bulleur?

Questions questions questions, so many questions rattling inside her head and absolutely no sense of closure was available to her.

 _I guess…_ Marinette thought to herself, _If I can't find the answers alone, I might as well go look for the mysterious girl myself._

She'd start her search tomorrow morning. Since it was the weekend, she'd have all the free time in the world in order to perform her search. If need be, she would ask Chat Noir for his help too.

Hopefully, this endeavor would not eat too much time out of her hands. She couldn't afford to miss any more classes in school…

* * *

Meanwhile…

Nino raggedly walked through the streets of Paris in the dark, cold and lost like an abandoned puppy.

No matter what corner or street he took, the setting was still too unfamiliar for him to know where exactly he was.

He would rather not ask a stranger for help, on the off chance that he might come across a mugger, or a serial killer, or even worse, a suspicious old man offering candy in the back of a white non-distinguishable van!

He shuddered, both at the thought and the fact that it was freezing cold out at night.

With his phone out of batteries, he couldn't call for help from any friends or family to pick him up. So he was forced to fend for his own vices.

That was when an idea lit up in his head! He could transform into Le Bulleur and just fly above the buildings to see where he was, and then fly home!

He slapped himself in the head, _Was I seriously stupid enough to only realize this now? I'm hopeless!_

He pulled out his bubble bottle from his pocket and held it firmly in his hand.

…

"Wait, how do I use this again?"

…

"Damn it."


End file.
